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Greene v. Rhode Island

Citation: 35 ELR 20038
No. No. 03-2670, (1st Cir., 02/11/2005)

The First Circuit dismissed a Native American tribe's suit to recover 34 square miles of land in Rhode Island they claim was wrongfully taken from their ancestors. The claim is barred by the Rhode Island Indian Claims Settlement Act. And although the United States does have a trust relationship with the tribe pertaining to land transactions that are or may be covered by the Indian Nonintercourse Act, the United States did not breach its fiduciary duty toward the tribe by failing to compensate the tribe for extinguishing any remaining aboriginal rights they may have had to land in Rhode Island.